Thorns and Roses
by cherri0196
Summary: Flashes of The Doctor and Rose's life together and their struggles in the "Domestic". Pregnancy, Parenting, and Paving their way to paradise :-)
1. Prologue

**A/N: I'll try to make this as short as possible, but basically an episode of Torchwood got me thinking (SPOILER). When Martha showed up on TW and went undercover and her blood work came back mutated, it got me wondering if that would cause fertility problems, and then (SPOILER FOR SEASON 7) when Amy told Rory she can't have kids, I really felt compelled to write this.**

**Disclaimer I own nothing Doctor Who related.**

**Any advice, concrit or reviews would be greatly appreciated :-)**

**Prologue **

Her strawberry curls bounce in the late afternoon sunlight as she races across the grassy field.

She climbs over the back garden fence and comes to a skidding stop at the back door.

She peeks in the back window to make sure the coast is clear before sneaking in the back door.

She's just about to breach the first step when her mother enters the kitchen, her slightly swollen belly entering a millisecond before her.

"…and where have you been, young lady?" She asks her daughter. "I thought I told you not to leave the garden."

"Awww, mum," She wines as she turns to face her. "I was just over the garden fence, in the field."

"And is that _in_ the garden?" She asks placing her hands on her hips. "And where are your shoes? Look at the state of you; knees skinned up, feet as dirty as a pig's pen."

She lets out a heavy sigh. "I was just climbing the trees in the back field, mum. I climb better without my shoes; they're still in my room."

Her mother lets out an equally heavy sigh. "For the love of…sweetie, you're 7, can you please just stay in the back garden as you're told? You shouldn't be wandering off like that."

"Almost 8." The little girl mumbles under her breath.

"Best do what your mum says, curly Sue." Her dad says entering the kitchen, bespectacled, with a folded up news paper tucked under his arm.

"Daaaaaaaaaad. Please stop calling me that."

"Never," He smiles and rumples her hair. "Now better run along and get cleaned up."

She sighs, but trudges up the stairs.

He watches her go. Just before she reaches the top of the stair case she turns to look at him and he winks at her.

Her face splits into a grin and the tip of her tongue pokes out between the gap where her two front teeth are missing.

A smile all tongue and teeth. Just like her mother.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The Doctor's singular heart hammers in his chest.

"Rose?" He whispers his wife's name softly as she lays half asleep cuddled up against his left side.

"Hum?" She grunts back, eyes closed.

"You love Tony right? You've grown and changed from the 19 year old that once called kids 'right little terrors' haven't you?"

"Mmmmmm" She replies.

"What do you think about having a baby, Rose? I mean er…like you and me. I know you may not want one with your current job, and I know it's a demanding job and all, but I want one really badly." The Doctor rambles on very fast. "I haven't told you for how long, but it's been ages and I think you would make an amazing mother…and….Rose? Rose, are you awake?"

He looks down at her and her honey brown eyes are wide open, staring at him with an expression that's hard to read plastered on her face.

"What?" The Doctor asks. "Don't look at me like that."

"Sorry," she replies. "Just took me by surprise is all."

"Well, what do you think? Would you consider….having a baby…with me?" He asks, uncharacteristically shy and unsure of himself.

Her face breaks into a smile. A smile that is only Rose. Her tongue pokes out and she tucks it up under her top lip. A smile that is all tongue and teeth.

"There's nothing to consider, Doctor. I would love to have a baby with you."

He smiles so wide his cheeks hurt and the crinkles around his eyes become more pronounced than she's ever seen them before.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"And what methods have you tried already?" Doctor Wingdom asks the couple sitting in the twin chairs in front of his desk.

"Well," Rose speaks up first. "I've been tracking my ovulation patterns mostly. And we've uhh…been..you know..having intercourse more frequently."

Doctor Wingdom pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and writes down a few notes in their file.

"Doctor Smith, have you been tested for low sperm count recently?" Doctor Wingdom asks.

The Doctor's cheeks burn crimson and he clears his throat. "No, Sir, and please, call me John."

Doctor Wingdom's pen scratches another note in their file.

"And you, Mrs. Smith" Doctor Wingdom turns to her. "How are your menstrual cycles? Are they regular? Heavy? Light? Abnormal?"

"It's normal. Maybe a little on the light side, but they come normally." She shifts in her chair and it scraps on the linoleum floor a bit.

Doctor Wingdom jots down a few more notes and pushes his glasses up his nose again.

"And how long have you been trying to get pregnant?"

"26 months." The Doctor replies automatically as if he's been counting the days.

"Weeeeellllll," He continues. "26 months and 14 days. Welllll….26 months, 14 days and about 10 hours or so."

They both stare at him and he shifts in his chair. "Just a good sense of time is all." He shrugs.

"Okay." Doctor Wingdom starts. "Well, we'll run some blood work on both of you, as well as a urinalysis and saliva tests. Doctor Smith….I'm sorry, I mean John, I'm going to need a semen sample from you so we can do a sperm count. And you, Mrs. Smith, will be sent for a pap smear and a pelvic exam."

They both nod in unison as Doctor Wingdom writes out some instructions and information after consulting his rolodex.

He hands each of them a slip of paper. "These are your recommendations of Doctor's in the area that I collaborate with. You can feel free to seek out other physicians of your choice of course, just have them send me the samples and results as soon as possible. I would like to review your case before next week so we can see what, if anything, is preventing you guys from getting pregnant so we can discuss options and move forward in getting you both that baby." He smiles. "If you would like, you can feel free to stop at the reception area on your way out and make an appointment for anytime after next Wednesday that is to your convenience."

"Thank you very much, Doctor Wingdom." The Doctor says standing and shaking the man's hand.

"We'll see you sometime next week then." Rose adds also shaking the man's hand.

**A/N: THANK YOU VERY MUCH AA and burningupasunX for the reviews! I updated just for you guys :-) And yes I know I'm going to get the "but the Doctor's blood can't be tested! all the alien DNA will show up" so for arguments sake, Torchwood drew the blood and filtered out all the Time Lord DNA oddities, okay :-)**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: burningupasunX- Yes, I know that was an awkward conversation! LOL! But it had to be done. Thank you so much for the review!**

**As always, I do not own anything Doctor Who related.**

**Chapter 3**

Rose can't stop her left leg from jittering.

It bounces up and down at the speed of a freight train. A nervous tick she's picked up recently.

She doesn't even notice she's doing it until The Doctor places his right hand on her left thigh.

"It's going to be okay," He whispers to her and her leg stops bouncing.

"I don't like it, Doctor," she whispers back. "What if it's my fault? What if I'm the reason we can't have kids?"

"Come on, Rose, stop it. We don't know anything yet." He tries to reassure her.

"But what if, Doctor? That's all I'm asking, what if?"

"Well then we'll cross that bridge when we get there, okay?" He asks taking her hand in his, intertwining their fingers and squeezing gently.

She nods and continues her leg shaking, staring off across the small waiting room.

"Doctor and Mrs. Smith?" A nurse in blue scrubs calls holding a manila file with red, blue, and yellow tabs poking out all over it.

The Doctor and Rose pass through the waiting room and into the back offices.

The nurse leads them through the labyrinth of halls to Doctor Wingdom's office.

"Go ahead and have a seat," the nurse instructs them, placing their file in the clear plastic bin hanging on the wall outside the door. "Doctor Wingdom will be with you shortly."

They enter and the nurse closes the door behind her.

"I'm so nervous." Rose tells The Doctor, taking a seat in the guest chair at the desk.

"Me too." The Doctor admits, following suit.

The door clicks open and the portly Doctor enters, file in hand, his white lab coat flapping slightly behind him.

"Hello again, Doctor and Mrs. Smith." Doctor Wingdom greets, taking a seat behind his desk and flipping open their file.

They all sit in silence as he reviews their file, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with the tip of his forefinger occasionally.

"Well," He starts after a torturously long time. "Do you want the good news first? Or the bad?"

Rose and The Doctor look at each other and The Doctor's adam apple bobs as he swallows thickly.

"The bad news, I suppose." The Doctor speaks up, tugging on his left ear.

"Well, we tested for basically everything there is to test for." Doctor Wingdom starts. "For Mrs. Smith we tested for Endometriosis, Ovarian Cycsts, Polycystic ovary syndrome, Estrogen levels, checked the fallopian tubes, uterine walls, hormone levels, blood cell count, you name it, we ran it, and there is no physical abnormality that is restricting you that I can see."

Rose releases a shaky breath of relief.

"As for you, Doctor Smith, everything basically seems to be fine for you as well; normal testosterone levels, hormone levels are fine. Your sperm count is a little on the low end of the spectrum, but nothing so low that it alarms me."

"No offense, Doctor Wingdom, but this doesn't sound like bad news." The Doctor interrupts.

"Well, I'm getting to that, Doctor Smith," Doctor Wingdom says. "Both you and Mrs. Smith here both do seem to have one shared abnormality in your white blood cells. The medical term is called Lymphocytosis, and basically your white blood cells have mutated."

"Mutated?" Rose asks, leaning forward, quite literally sitting on the edge of her seat. "What does that mean?"

"Well, Mrs. Smith, I haven't seen a case like this in a very long time, and especially never when this is present in both the male and female. Both couples having this, is….is just astronomically off the charts near impossible."

"But…how? How do we both have this mutation?" Rose asks.

"Well….what do you do for a living, Mrs. Smith? If I may ask?"

Rose leans back in her seat unsure how to answer. She can't exactly say she works for a company that doesn't exist, fighting aliens that no one knows about.

"I kind of work for the government," she decides on. "Like a federal agent."

"So you're sometimes exposed to dangerous conditions? Chasing criminals perhaps?"

She shrugs. "I guess, yeah."

"And you, Doctor Smith?" He asks. "What kind of work do you do? What is your doctorate in?"

"I'm the Physics professor down at Uni." The Doctor answers.

"Do you ever perform experiments in your lab? Maybe work in nuclear physics? Or radiation physics?"

"Yeah, I suppose I do, from time to time." The Doctor confirms rubbing the back of his neck. "What does any of this have to do with fertility problems though, Doctor?"

"I only ask because there is only one thing I can think of that can cause all these…umm…symptoms, if you may; borderline low sperm count, mutated white blood cells, fertility problems in otherwise healthy individuals."

"And that is?" Rose asks, sitting on the edge of her seat again.

"Where the bad news comes in," Doctor Wingdom says. "I think you both have been exposed to radiation. Not high levels, but perhaps low level exposure over an extended period of time. Low level radiation can reduce sperm production, Doctor Smith, however you don't seem to have any permanent reduction in productivity, which leads me to believe it's not high dose exposure."

The Doctor runs his fingers through his brown hair, ruffling it up more than it normally is and lets his head drop in his hands for a second before rubbing the heels of his palms in his eyes. "So what's the good news?" He asks.

"Well the good news is, I can easily test this theory with a quick scan from a Geiger counter, which I should have somewhere in this office, and it should be easily treatable with some radiation therapy. There are no high risk problems that should arise in the event of a conceived fetus, no chromosomal issues, genetic diseases or birth defects. Well no higher risk than anyone else."

"And if radiation therapy doesn't work, if that is what the problem is?" The Doctor asks.

"Well, if that doesn't work then we can discuss some treatment options, and the option of using in vitro fertilization. I think you would have a very high success rate if it comes down to that. There is nothing wrong with your sperm, nothing wrong with her eggs, or her uterus. I believe if we just help over ride whatever problem is preventing the eggs from fertilizing within the body, we can easily remedy that and get the eggs fertilized outside the body and then implant them."

"So what do we do?" Rose asks, voice barely higher than a whisper.

"Well….let's not put the cart before the horse, huh? Let's get you tested for radiation exposure first and then go from there, okay?"


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you, BaDWolF89 for the review! I just love TenToo and Rose so much! It would be unjust for them to not have babies, so this is a MUST! I promise all this Doctor mumbo jumbo will be over soon and we'll be able to get into the good stuff!  
**

**Chapter 4**

"I thought you said it was safe!" Rose screams as tears stream down her cheeks.

"It was safe, Rose! I never thought….I just….I'm sorry." The Doctor rebuts, trying to ignore the stab of pain in his heart. His stupid single heart.

"Background radiation, that's what happened, I know it is. Do you think I'm an idiot? All that time spent in the TARDIS. All those years being exposed to background radiation and you never even for one second thought it would cause fertility problems?" She spews, her face flushed red with anger, anger so deep it hinders her tears.

"Of course I never thought of that, Rose! I never thought for one second we would come to this. I never thought we'd get married and try to start a family. I never thought…."

"Yeah, 'the one adventure you can never have'," Rose spits at him, her words searing into him. She can see it written all over his face; the burn of her words. "Now, we may never be able to have it at all, because of you and your stupid TARDIS!" She jabs at him, driving the knife in deeper.

"Oi!," The Doctor shouts. "No one ever forced you, huh? You could have stayed on Earth with Mickey and rode the bus to your stupid shop job, eating chips, and getting a mortgage and having fertility problem free children! You know what….." The Doctor breathes deeply, trying to calm himself. "I need some air," He seethes as he stomps out of their flat and slams the door behind him.

His footsteps echo in the stair well as he trots down to ground level and slams the building door open.

The bitter weather nips at his cheeks and nose. The sudden blast of cold air catches him off guard, but he walks on, hands in his packets.

"How dare her," He thinks to himself. "I gave her the universe and now she blames me for it?"

"Rubbish. This is absolutely rubbish." His mind reels.

He kicks a small rock and walks on.

He doesn't get too far though; it's not too long before the cold drives him back home; his fingers numb, his nose beat red and his cheeks on fire.

Rose is sitting hunched over on the couch when he enters. Head in her hands.

The click of the door makes her look up; her eyes red rimmed and slightly puffy. There is no denying she had been crying.

"I'm sorry," She sniffs.

He sighs, all the anger draining from him, leaving behind only the hurt. He goes over to her anyway and sits on the couch.

"You're right, this isn't your fault, and I reacted horribly," Rose tells him. "If our problems were my fault I know you would have never treated me the way I treated you…."

"Rose," The Doctor tries to interrupt.

"No, Doctor, it's true. You would have held me close and told me it would be alright. You would have supported me, and look at what I've done. I've screamed at you, and said such hateful things, and I'm so sorry." She chokes on her words a bit and she takes a deep breath. "I just. I feel like I'm a disappointment. Teenagers get knocked up all the time, Doctor, why not me? What is wrong with me?" Her façade starts to crumble. "You can't deny it; I've seen the disappointment in your eyes. For 2 years, I've tried everything, and I can't even give you the one thing you want the most," She sobs. "And I'm sorry."

The Doctor's eyes brim with unshed tears and he clears his throat. "You're not a disappointment, Rose. Don't for one second think that. I'm sorry if you felt like I was….I don't know…putting pressure on you or something. It's just this….this whole thing isn't easy for me either." He takes a calming breath. "Do you know how terrifying this is for me? I've had children before, Rose, and I've lost them all. I'm scared to death of losing another, but I'm also scared to death of not having one at all; to feel the love of a child and to share something that phenomenal with you." The Doctor stops in an attempt to compose himself, but his voice breaks anyway when he speaks again. "Maybe I have been disappointed on occasion, but you can't tell me I haven't sat here for 2 years, watching the hope die out of your eyes, month after month. And now I know it's my fault." He chokes out, not being able to stop the twin tear drops from rolling down his cheeks.

"No, Doctor, it's not your fault. Neither of us knew, and Doctor Wingdom is very optimistic that we should be able to get pregnant after a bit of radiation therapy, okay?" She tries a reassuring smile on him and takes his hand in hers. "We'll get through this, Doctor, just you watch. Pfffttt….a little fertility issue won't ruin us, Doctor. We have been through much worse, yeah?"

He smiles half heartedly and nods his head.

"Yeah." He replies.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you so much again, burningupasunX for your review! You're so sweet! I feel like that fight was necessary to show their struggle and just how bad they want a baby! Writting The Doctor is really hard, but thank you! I'm trying my best to get their characters right. And no your eyes are not deceiving you! You definitely seen the word 'married' and also the word 'wife' in the beginning of Chapter 1 :-) I didn't want to go into a long author's note, but yes in this story they're already married! and have their own flat and all that jazz. YAY!  
**

**Also, this is probably going to be the last Doctor (actual Doctors, not THE Doctor) scene too, so the good stuff is coming! Also fair warning the next chapter is going to be smut. I didn't mean for it to happen, but it did, LOL! So i'll be bumping my rating up to an M.  
**

**Anyway, as always, I do not own Doctor Who or their characters. Enjoy!  
**

**Chapter 5**

"Now, this won't hurt," The middle aged women with straight pulled back black hair tells Rose. "You're just going to lie down on this treatment table and we'll glide you into the machine. It's very similar to getting an MRI. Should take….oh about 10 minutes or so."

Rose nods, hugging herself, dressed in a flimsy hospital dressing gown.

"The machine is equipped with an intercom, so if you feel sick or claustrophobic, or anything like that you can just say so and we'll be able to stop the machine, okay?" The Doctor smiles reassuringly at her. "It'll be okay."

"Okay," Rose breathes out.

She hops up on the treatment table and lies down.

"Now, I'm just going to strap your legs, I'll do them very loose, but it's mandatory procedure."

Rose nods and feels the padded straps cross her legs and tighten a notch or two.

"Now, I'm just going to put this lead shield over your hips, it's called Gonadal shielding, it will just help prevent any damage to your ovaries," Doctor Marshall tells her as she places the light weight across Rose's hips and thighs.

"Okay, Rose, I'm going to just go into the other room right there and I'll be able to control everything from in there, okay?"

"Alright, Doctor Marshall, Thank you."

Doctor Marshall smiles down at her. "You're very welcome. Now just breathe normally and try to remain very still. Let me know if you need anything."

Rose nods as Doctor Marshall walks out of the room, to the small office behind the glass observation window.

Rose feels the machine jerk slightly as it rotates her forward into the domed entrance.

In and out she breathes.

The minutes tick by and the intercom buzzes with Doctor Marshall's voice "You're doing great Rose, just give me a few more minutes."

The machine is actually quite calming. There is a soft vibration and a slight hum, if it wasn't so bright in there Rose is pretty sure she'd be able to fall asleep.

In no time at all the machine jerks slightly again and Rose is swiftly rolled forward and out of the machine.

Doctor Marshall isn't there when she emerges so she's not entirely sure what to do. Should she get up? Should she wait?

The intercom buzzes again and Doctor Marshall's voice announces "I'll be right out, Rose, just relax."

Rose really does feel like she'll fall asleep now and closes her eyes as she waits.

Doctor Marshall takes the lead shield off Rose and replaces it in her wardrobe with her other lead shields. Rose's eyes open at the absence of the weight and the bright lights blind her for a tick.

"Feeling tiered, Mrs. Smith?" Doctor Marshall asks.

"Yeah, a little," Rose tells her.

"Don't worry, feeling a little fatigued after is normal. You can get down now, if you'd like."

Rose hops off the treatment table and stretches her arms above her head.

"Okay, Mrs. Smith, your clothes are back in your room. You can feel free to go get dressed while I go retrieve your husband and process his therapy session and then once we're done we'll come get you and we'll go to my office and discuss the rest of your treatment agenda."

"Okay, Doctor Marshall, Thanks." Rose says as she pads back down the hall in socked feet to her exam room.

She quickly changes back into her jumper and jeans, trying to stifle a yawn, to no avail.

She picks up a magazine from the bin in the small room and hops up on the exam table. She thumbs through it, not really interested and leans back on the cushioned, paper clad, table, crinkling the paper as she shifts.

Her eye lids flutter closed and darkness takes her quickly.

She wakes to a knock on the door.

"Come in," She calls, voice thick with sleep.

Doctor Marshall enters with a fully dressed Doctor on her heels.

"Hey," He comes over to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she replies. "Just a little tiered is all. You?"

"Fine." The Doctor replies. "Good. Great. Molto Bene. Bueno. Parfait."

Rose giggles and hops down off the exam table.

"Well, Doctor and Mrs. Smith, if you'll both just follow me, we'll head into my office."

They walk out of the exam room and he intertwines their fingers together as they follow in step behind Doctor Marshall as she leads them to her office.

"Have a seat," she instructs them as she takes her place behind her desk, flipping open their file.

They both take a seat opposite of her and watch in silence as she holds up films and reviews charts and notations.

"Okay, so I think we should be able to complete your radiation therapy in about 10 weeks. Most patients that undergo this treatment are cancer patients and are therefore subjected to it much more frequently. Most patients are typically scheduled 5 times a week or so, however since this is not the case with you two, I would recommend once a week over the course of 10 weeks."

"So then after the 10 weeks, we should be fine?" Rose asks.

"Doctor Wingdom and I are both very optimistic that this will be the case. However, let's just move forward for now and at the end of the 10 weeks we'll see where we are and move from there."

"Okay, great." Rose smiles over at the Doctor.

"Now, as for side effects. As we discussed before you may experience some fatigue, and perhaps some skin irritation, or fever. You may also feel slightly nauseas, but I don't foresee that symptom, as you're only getting minimal therapy treatments, however just keep an eye out. Take it easy and take care of yourselves."

"Yes, Ma'am," The Doctor nods. "Don't worry, I'm a Doctor." He winks at Rose and she has to hide her grin behind her hand.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you so much inucase-loverofallthingsyoai for the review! I really appreciate it! Also wanted to thank everyone that has favorited and/or followed this story!**

**LEMON WARNING! I'm bumping my rating up to an M. This is a smutty chapter, so if you don't like the lemons, skip it. Otherwise, enjoy! :-)**

**Disclaimor: I own nothing Doctor Who (unfortunatly) **

**Chapter 6**

When Rose gets home from work the lights are out.

She locks the door behind her after she enters their flat.

"Doctor?," she calls as she drops her bag and keys on the glass kitchen table.

She tries flipping on a light switch but it doesn't work.

"Doctor!," she calls again. "Have you been tinkering with the fuse box again?"

That's when the scent of vanilla, mint and a hint of roses tickle her senses.

"Doctor?," she whispers.

That's when she notices the single red rose resting on the coffee table in the living room.

She walks over to it and it's holding down a small note of white paper.

She picks up the flower, minding the thorns, and presses the bud to her nose; inhaling the sweet scent.

She picks up the note and scrawled on it is a partial poem from one of her favorite poets, William Blake.

"Thou fair-haired angel of the evening,  
Now, whilst the sun rests on the mountains, light  
Thy bright torch of love; thy radiant crown  
Put on, and smile upon our evening bed!  
Smile on our loves, and while thou drawest the  
Blue curtains of the sky, scatter thy silver dew  
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes  
In timely sleep."

Below the poem is a single line that reads "Come with me to the stars."

Rose kicks off her leather flats and tip toes down the hall barefoot.

The scent of vanilla and mint gets stronger as she inches further down the hallway. She tries opening their bedroom door as silently as possible, but it squeaks a little on its hinges as she enters their room.

There are white and mint green candles lit on every available surface; the wardrobe, the nightstands, the dresser, even the window sill. The mass of scattered candles bathes the otherwise dark room in a soft orange glow.

And The Doctor sits barefoot, cross legged on the bed, still in his work clothes; untucked blue dress shirt, black trousers, and a loosened brown and blue striped tie, with his old manic smile plastered on his face, like a puppy that is so proud of himself for doing something right. If you had a good imagination you'd be able to see his metaphorical tail wagging frantically behind him.

"What's all this then?" Rose asks, not being able to stop her lips from curling into a smile.

The Doctor's grin widens further. "We're celebrating," He answers.

"What are we celebrating?"

"Our 10 weeks is up, Rose!" The Doctor announces excitedly. "We're done with our therapy!"

Rose grins back at him, smile splitting her face as her tongue pokes out between her teeth. "Well," she clears her throat. "I hope you're not expecting anything to happen this soon after our sessions, besides…." She looks away from him and gazes at the floor as she adds "I don't think I'm ovulating," she admits, her cheeks coloring pink, feeling like she's killing the mood.

"That doesn't matter," The Doctor replies. "Tonight's not about tracking and charts and offices and ovulation. Tonight's about you and me, okay? Just relax, don't worry about anything."

She nods and he pats the empty spot next to him on the bed.

She saunters over and stretches out on the bed next to him, lying on her side, supporting her head in her hand, elbow bent, facing him, and he untangles his long limbs to mirror her.

"You're so beautiful," He tells her as he tucks a loose lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "All pink and yellow, the way I've always loved."

She pulls him to her by his neck tie and presses her lips firmly to his.

He leans over her as she rolls onto her back and he deepens the kiss; slowly, tentatively running his tongue across her top lip. She catches his bottom lip gently in her teeth before allowing him access. Their tongues dance fervently and only the need for oxygen forces them apart.

The Doctor peppers kisses across Rose's nose and cheeks before trailing the tip of his nose up and down her jaw line. He kisses down her neck. Slowly. Torturously. Until he meets the pulse point at her collar bone and sucks gently on the soft skin.

Her breath hitches in his ear and he sucks harder, drawing blood to the surface, before kissing the red mark he left behind.

He trails lower still, down her chest until he meets the fabric of her jumper.

Rose stops his glorious torture, cupping his face in her hands and draws his forehead to her lips.

He closes his eyes at her touch and she rolls them over so The Doctor is on his back and she straddles over his hips.

She pulls her jumper off over her head, mussing up her hair, and throws it onto the floor, causing a few nearby candles to flicker violently.

She presses her body against his, their hearts hammering against each other just beneath the surface, and she kisses him passionately, with a desire to show him those stars.

He wraps his arms around her and unclasps her bra in one quick motion. The lacy material falls away, exposing her bare back and he rubs his palms up and down her spine.

Rose breaks the kiss for tick to slide her bra off and throw it on the floor with her jumper. She tugs on The Doctor's neck tie, pulling it looser so she can slide it over his head and adds it to the scattered pile.

He sits up, Rose still straddled across his lap and kisses her back with just as much passion as she displayed, nipping at her bottom lip, sucking gently on her neck, nibbling on her ear lobes.

She pants softly at his assault.

His hands roam her soft, warm skin as she starts working on the buttons of his shirt, and his lips find their way back to hers.

He cups her breast in his hand and a small moan escapes her into his mouth, urging him on. He pinches her nipple lightly between his thumb and forefinger and she lets out a throaty whimper.

He breaks the kiss to trail his tongue down her neck, collar bone, chest, and breast until he meets her soft pink nipple and sucks it into his mouth. She arches her back into him, working the shirt off his shoulders more frantically; fumbling with buttons, ripping the bottom two off.

His shirt is added to the pile on the floor with a soft flicker of candle light.

They collide into each other, lips desperately crashing together as their bare chests contact. Rose tunnels her fingers through The Doctor's hair, his really great hair, wrapping her hands behind his head, pulling him closer, devouring him; kissing him as deeply as physically possible and rocking her hips back and forth, causing such amazing friction between them.

His hands release their grip on her back and makes a beeline for her trousers, fumbling with the clasp, trying to concentrate on the kiss, and remembering to breathe evenly, what with his respiratory bypass system being lost in the meta-crisis.

He breaks the kiss and growls at the uncooperative trouser clasp. He flips her over onto her back, hovering over her, between her legs, and gently kisses her swollen lips before kissing his way down her torso.

He easily unclasps her trousers and pulls them down her legs and off onto the floor.

He's about to crawl back on top of her when she stops him with a palm placed gently against his chest, feeling the frantic beating of his single heart.

She motions for him to lie down and he complies. She straddles over his legs and kisses down his chest, curling her index finger to play with the soft tufts of chest hair as she kisses lower and lower down his abdomen. She licks a wet trail all the way back up from waist line to collar bone, before kissing his lips once more. She unbuttons and unzips his trousers and climbs off of him. She pulls his trousers and pants down his lanky legs and his hardened length springs free from the restricting clothes.

She smiles and throws everything on the floor before dropping her knickers; the last barrier between them, and steps out.

She straddles back over him and he softly runs the back of his knuckles across her cheek and she kisses his finger tips.

"To the stars?," she whispers.

"To the stars," he whispers back.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi again everyone! Just wanted to say Thank you to everyone that has favorited and/or started to follow this fic! I hope to make you proud! This scene is turning out longer than I expected so I'm splitting it into two chapters. I am very sadly not British so any traditions I mess up on, or don't get quite right please forgive me!  
**

**I still don't own these characters.  
**

**Chapter 7**

"But, Rooooooosseeeee," The Doctor whines. "I don't wanna go, it's too bloody cold out. And your mother, do we have to?"

"Oi, Mister, you better finish getting ready, you know we have to go see Tony in his Nativity play at primary, plus my mother is expecting us for Christmas dinner. Now scoot."

The Doctor sighs but obediently ties his red converse sneakers and pulls on his bubble coat, scarf and hat in barrier against the cold.

"Oh look at you, handsome boy." She croons, giggling as she pulls on her own coat and winter wear.

The clouds split with snowflakes on the drive to Tony's school. Rose cranks the heat up in the car and rubs her hands together in front of the vents.

She watches out the windshield at all the passing buildings, twinkling with Christmas lights.

The decorations they pass on the way are nothing in comparison to Tony's school, decorated with huge, extravagant decorations. Of course Tony goes to a private school, being the son of a millionaire and all. The two story red brick building has bright Christmas lights running everywhere; along the roof and the trim of the building itself, up the flag pole, in the car park, along the fences, framed in each window. A huge manger set up in the courtyard, complete with real hay and plastic animals, a plastic baby Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph, lit up as bright as a football stadium.

Rose's mobile rings as her and The Doctor are walking up the front steps to enter the school. "'Ello? Mum?" Rose answers.

"Right behind you," she hears on the other end of the line.

She hangs up and turns around. Her mum and Pete, which on Pete's world is technically her dad, are a few yards back and Rose waves to them. Jackie waves back excitedly. The Doctor raises his hand in greeting and smiles to them.

"Doctor." Pete greets first, shaking his hand.

"Pete." The Doctor replies, gripping his hand. "Happy almost Christmas."

"And to you," Pete replies.

"Hi, mum" Rose greets her mother as the two women engulf each other in a hug.

"Hi, sweetheart," Jackie replies. "How are you?"

"Good, mum, real good."

"Good," Jackie replies, releasing her daughter.

Rose scamps over to her dad and gives him a hug as well.

"And you, you just gonna stand there?" she asks The Doctor in her usual disapproving tone.

"Mum," Rose warns.

"Sorry, come here, you," She beckons to The Doctor and wraps her arms around his chest in an awkward hug as he pats her on the back.

"Well," Pete interrupts to The Doctor's relief. "Are we just gonna stand out here and freeze to death, or shall we go and get a seat?"

Pete and Jackie enter first and The Doctor and Rose follow behind.

"UNCLE, JOHN!" The Doctor hears his given name called and turns quickly to see a boy dressed in robes and a bouncing turban running towards him.

He launches himself into The Doctor's arms and squeezes him in a hug. "So glad you could come!" He announces.

"And what are we? Chopped liver?" Jackie asks her son. "We're only your bloody parents for pete's sake."

"Don't wake the sleeping dragon," The Doctor whispers in Tony's ear, letting him down. To the credit of the little boy he tried his best not to laugh, but he couldn't help the belly aching snicker that escapes him.

"Sorry, mum," he laughs, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "Glad you could come too." He hugs her middle. "And you dad, and you, Rose" hugging them each in turn.

"What's so funny then?" Rose asks her little brother.

"Nothing, I just thought of something funny Conner said in class today," the boy lies easily.

"Well good luck on your play," The Doctor interrupts from further questioning. "You'll be brilliant."

"Thanks, see you guys later," Tony waves as he makes his way out of their sight.

The Doctor helps Rose out of her coat and hangs it up on the coat hook before shrugging out of his and adding it to the line of hooks on the wall. They all pull off their scarves and hats and gloves and shove them in the pockets of the coats before making their way into the auditorium.

As the Doctor predicted the play was brilliant, and Tony made the most handsome wise man, if his mother had anything to say about it. Which she did.

"You were the most handsome wise man my eyes have ever seen," Jackie tells her son, helping him into his coat.

"Thanks, mum," Tony replies.

"So see ya both at home?" Jackie asks The Doctor and Rose. "I had Emily working in the kitchen all day to make Christmas dinner, so you best be," she raises a threatening finger at the pair.

Rose rolls her eyes. "Yes, mum, I told you we were coming, now let's go, I'm starved and freezing."

The ride to Tyler manor was quiet, Christmas music played lowly on the radio but Rose was too tired to make idle chat.

The Doctor pulls up to Tyler manor and turns the car off, he gets out and walks around to open Rose's door, his nose turning red quickly in the increasingly cold night as snowflakes accumulate in his hair and across his shoulders.

"Thanks," she tells him stifling a yawn.

"Allons-y!" He tells her, grasping her gloved hand in his.

The warmth of Tyler manor engulfs them as soon as they step through the threshold.

"Ahhhh. That's better." The Doctor mumbles to himself, letting go of Rose's hand and flexing his fingers.

Two of the staff members walk up to them and offer to take their coats.

"No, no," The Doctor holds up a hand. "Please, we can handle it." He smiles at them. "But thanks anyway."

They retreat back to wherever they were and Rose and The Doctor hang their coats up on the coat stand.

Tyler manor is decorated almost as nicely as Tony's school. The curved staircase has white twinkling lights wrapped around every banister. There are little reindeer and snowmen and Father Christmas's scattered everywhere. Golden horns and a huge Christmas tree stacked with gifts in the formal sitting room.

"Mum!" Rose calls, her voice echoing a bit in the vast house.

"IN HERE," Jackie's voice shrills back, slightly muffled by the distance.

They enter the kitchen and the aroma of freshly cooked turkey hits their noses.

"Smells good," The Doctor praises.

"As it should," Jackie replies. "Now go have a seat in the dining room with Pete and Tony, while Rose and I help Emily finish this up so she can go home."

The Doctor nods and disappears into the next room.

"So how are you really?" Jackie asks her daughter, craning her neck to make sure no one is listening.

"I'm good, mum. Really." Rose tells her.

"Well, I was just wonderin' how things were going along with all this Doctor business you've been through."

"It's fine, mum. We finished our radiation therapy a few weeks ago. Doctor Wingdom, our fertility specialist, wants to give it at least 6 months until we even discuss putting me on meds or trying in vitro."

"Dangerous, I told you so, that man. I told you 'don't run off with him', didn't I?"

"Mum," Rose hisses. "Can we not do this?"

"You're right, I'm sorry, sweetheart." Jackie wraps her daughter in a hug. "I just worry about you is all. That's what mothers do, you'll see. One day."

Rose exhales, trying not to let herself get angry. It's just her mum after all.

"Thanks, mum," she replies instead. "Can we go eat now?"

Jackie releases her daughter, "Of course, come on." She hands Rose a platter of cheese and biscuits while she carries a bottle of wine and a juice box of apple cider for Tony.

Dinner is extravagant. A whole roast turkey sits on a silver platter in the middle of the table, sliced by Pete himself. Large crystal bowls filled to the brim with roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, and chestnut stuffing. Large pewter platters filled with cranberry sauce, fine, sliced cheese, herb infused biscuits, sausage links wrapped in bacon and two large boats of gravy.

"But I don't wanna eat these!" Tony protests.

"But you have to, sweetheart, Pete tell him he has to."

"Tony," Pete starts in his most authoritative voice. "Do as your mother asks."

"But they're brussel sprouts, dad! How gross is that? They stink!"

"Fine, don't eat them then." Pete relents easily.

Jackie tuts at him. "Some help you are."

"What?" he asks innocently. "I don't want to eat brussel sprouts either."

Rose laughs and pushes her cloth napkin out in front of her. "I don't eat mine either," she announces, opening her napkin, displaying her hidden brussel sprouts within. "I'm gonna have to teach you some tricks, kid."

Jackie tuts again.

"Nor I," The Doctor adds with a cheeky grin.

"No help," Jackie complains loudly. "None of ya. Fine, Tony, don't eat your brussel sprouts, but when you're as short as an elf don't come cryin' ta me."

Everyone at the table rolls their eyes, including Tony.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hi again! Sorry for the delay in this, one line was holding me up, but I think I'm happy with the wording now. YAY! Thank you everyone that has been following and/or favoriting this! Again I appoligize if I don't get the Christmas traditions quite right. Hope you enjoy!  
**

**I still do not own these characters, though I wouldn't mind owning David Tennant  
**

**Chapter 8**

After dinner is cleared away, Jackie and Pete bring out a tray of tea and an assortment of puddings.

Rose nurses a cup of tea, taking small sips and just relaxes; enjoying the conversations going on around her.

Jackie is discussing something about proper table manners with Tony and The Doctor and Pete are speaking quickly, in hushed tones, about odds for the football world cup next year. Rose is pretty sure she heard something along the lines of "I see your ten quid, and raise you fifty!"

After pudding Tony runs off to fetch a carrot for the reindeer, excited about Father Christmas coming later that night, and to get away from his mother's nagging.

"Tony!" Jackie shouts after him. "Bring the Christmas crackers when you come back!"

Jackie turns to her daughter, "can't keep that boy still for five minutes."

Rose smiles, "guess that runs in the family then."

"Oi, don't get smart, you."

Rose smiles wider, tongue poking out.

"Is Tony excited about Faaaaaather Christmas coming on down the chimney tonight?" Rose asks her mother sarcastically.

"Oh yes, he's plenty excited, now hush."

Tony comes running back in the kitchen with an arm full of brightly colored Christmas crackers.

He hands them each one and takes one for himself, returning to his seat at the table as everyone's conversations die out.

"Okay now everyone, Happy Christmas." Jackie announces to the table.

Each person picks up their Christmas cracker, decorated in shiny, lavish, gold, red, and green paper, and crosses their arms so the person next to them can help draw it open, each pulling from one end.

Five loud pops spot the table as their Christmas crackers split open, dropping out paper crowns in different colors, small toys, and a pack of playing cards in Pete's.

"COOL!" Tony shouts excitedly.

He puts his purple crown on his head and inspects a miniature army man that fell near him.

Rose and Jackie exchange crowns; Rose gives her mum her pink one and Jackie gives Rose her orange one in return.

The Doctor puts a green paper crown on and pulls his black framed glasses out of his breast pocket to inspect a piece of paper that fell out of his Christmas cracker.

He chuckles to himself, which catches Rose's attention.

"Get a joke?" she asks him.

"Yeah," He grins. "It's a goodin"

"Well, go ahead and share," Rose urges him.

"Okay, okay," He clears his throat. "Everyone listen, 'What athlete is warmest in the winter?'" The Doctor asks to no one in particular.

"Which athlete?" Rose asks giddily.

"A long jumper," The Doctor replies chuckling to himself again. "Get it?! Because he's a jumper, and you know jumpers…..keep. you. warm."

A general snigger goes round the table, though Tony didn't seem to fully get it.

The Doctor clears his throat again and puts his glasses away. "Well I thought it was funny," he mutters to himself.

"It was funny," Rose reassures him, putting her hand on his thigh. "Ready to go?" She adds in a whisper.

The Doctor nods his head without looking at her.

"Alright, guys, we're going to get going," Rose announces as she stands and stretches.

"Awwwwwww," Tony whines.

"Don't 'awwwwww' me, little brother, you need to get in bed soon anyway, otherwise Father Christmas will just skip right over this house," she teases him.

"Mum!" He looks frantically to his mother. "Is that true?! I need to go to bed now!"

"Rose," Jackie chastises her grown adult daughter. "Don't tease your brother."

"Awwww," she whines. "He don't mind, do ya, Tony?" she asks ruffling her brother's hair. "Besides, what are big sisters for?"

"Thank you for dinner, Jackie," The Doctor interrupts trying to avoid a thirty minute goodbye session.

"You're welcome," she replies. "You guys are comin' round tomorrow for Christmas, yeah?"

"Yeah," The Doctor replies. "See you all tomorrow." He pecks Jackie on the cheek before moving off to say goodbye to Pete and Tony.

"See ya tomorrow, mum" Rose hugs her mother. "Bye, Dad, bye, Tony" She waves to them as The Doctor takes her by the hand and they head for the door to retrieve their coats.

"You alright?" The Doctor asks Rose once they're on the road back home in their nice warm car.

"Yeah, fine," she replies. "Just a bit tiered, tonight was a lot, but it was fun, yeah?"

"Yeah, it was fun," The Doctor smiles. "Considering your mother and all. Did you see the look on her face when none of us would eat our brussel sprouts? Classic," he chuckles. "'no help, none of ya'" He imitates Jackies voice, causing Rose to laugh.

As soon as they make it home Rose puts the kettle on and shivers slightly.

"I'm cold," she tells him. "Gonna go put on my pyjamas."

She pads into their room and takes her orange paper crown off, laying it on the dresser. She strips out of her clothes and changes into her long pyjamas and dressing gown.

The kettle whistles in the kitchen and The Doctor takes it off the heat, pouring the steaming water into two mugs, adding a tea bag to each, a spoon and a dollop of milk.

Rose joins him in the kitchen, in her pink and gray jammies.

"You still have your crown on," she tells him with a smile. "It suits you."

The Doctor smiles and hands her her cuppa.

"Why thank you," Rose tells him.

She stirs her tea and wraps her hands around the mug, letting the water warm her hands.

"You know," Rose starts. "I was thinking we should open our gifts tonight. I doubt Father Christmas would mind."

The Doctor sips his tea carefully, letting it warm him from the inside out. "Sounds good to me!" he declares excitedly. "After tea and jimjams?"

Rose smiles and nods her head.

They both sip their tea in silence, winding down from the night, letting it warm them.

The Doctor finishes his tea much faster than Rose finishes hers in his excitement to open gifts early.

"I'm gonna go change," he tells her. "Then gifts, yes? Ohhh yes."

Rose giggles at him, so much like a 5 year old sometimes.

Rose finishes her tea and rinses both mugs in the sink before heading into the living room where their small tree is set up, twinkling with brightly colored lights.

She digs around under the tree for The Doctor's gift.

"Nice rear bumper," The Doctor comments, entering the living room in blue and white stripy pyjamas.

"Oi, you cheeky boy, you." Rose counters, sitting cross legged on the floor next to the tree. "Here's yours," she tells him holding up a perfectly square shaped box, wrapped in shiny red wrapping paper, overlaid with a thick green ribbon.

"No, no, you first," The Doctor tells her, crawling under the tree on his hands and knees to find Rose's gift.

He emerges with his hair sticking up in every direction; the disheveled look she has loved for as long as she can remember.

"Ah," He starts, sitting cross legged in front of her. "And for the lady." He presents her with her gift; a thin, rectangle box, wrapped in white wrapping paper with little pink faced, white bearded, red hat'ed Father Christmas's all over, adorned with a small gold bow.

"Thanks," She smiles at him, unwrapping her gift. She finds a silver box beneath the Christmas paper and opens the top lid.

"A sonic?" She asks him. "But how?"

"Wellllllll," He starts, tugging on his left ear. "It's not technically a sonic, well, it is sonic, but it's not a sonic screwdriver per se, it's more of a….homage. But it's as close to the real deal as you can get, it lights up and makes sounds and it's made out of real metal. Made it myself so I should know. Pain in the arse that thing was, but I thought you might like it, and I even inscribed something in Gallifreyan on it for you. Look." He rolls the sonic screwdriver replica over to show her the circular language of his home planet etched into the otherwise smooth silver metal. "It says 'To the end of the universe', you know because that's how much I love you. To the end of the universe and back," He grins.

"I love it," she smiles at him before pulling him in for a kiss.

"Now mine!" he announces, bouncing slightly on his backside.

"Here," she hands him her perfectly wrapped gift.

He tears into his gift with so much enthusiasm it would give Tony a run for his money.

He finds a plain brown box beneath the shiny red paper and lifts the lid to find another Christmas cracker tucked into softly colored decorative tissue paper; pink and blue and yellow and purple and green.

"Two Christmas crackers in one night?" The Doctor asks grinning. "I hope I get a blue paper crown this time."

"I don't know," Rose tells him, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.

"Wanna help me pop it open?" He asks her.

"Nah," she answers. "It's your gift."

"Okay," he replies, picking up his Christmas cracker. This time it's a yellow tube with light green ribbons curled on each end, tying it together.

He pulls from each end and the yellow paper gives way, tearing in half. Small pieces of colorful confetti pops out all over his lap, a white plastic tube following closely in its wake, bouncing off his thigh and onto the floor.

"What's this?" He asks, picking up the white plastic stick. He flips it over in his slender fingers, to find a vivdly pink + sign on the circle screen with the words 'we're pregnant!' written in permanent marker on the white plastic.

His eyes dart to hers "Is this real?" he asks, lighting up like….well a kid on Christmas.

"Of course it's real," she smiles, tears welling up in her eyes. "Merry Christmas, Doctor."


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you Angeldolphin01 for the review! Also to everyone that has followed or favorited! YAY! Enjoy Chapter 9! :-) **

**Chapter 9**

"DOCTOR!" Rose screams from the couch. "COME HERE! QUICK!"

"What?" The Doctor asks frantically, running into the living room. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing, come here," Rose gestures her hands urgently for him to join her.

"What?" He asks again sitting next to her on the couch.

"Shhhhhh," she stretches out on the couch, laying her legs across his lap and placing his hand on her slightly rounded belly.

"What is it?" The Doctor whispers.

"Patience, Grasshopper," Rose whispers back.

After a few silent minutes Rose tuts. "The baby was kicking, I swear, just a minute ago. I wanted you to feel it."

The Doctor's face falls a fraction in disappointment before quickly replacing it with a smile. "That's alright," he tells his wife.

"No," Rose protests. "Just wait a minute, try talking to him or her. He or she likes when I hum. I think anyway."

The Doctor looks at her skeptically.

"Go on," Rose urges him.

The Doctor leans in closer, putting an ear to her belly. "Ummmm, hello? Hello in there."

They wait. Nothing.

"I feel ridiculous, Rose," He tells her. "The baby can't hear me."

"You'd be surprised, Doctor."

He tries again. "This is your father speaking. I…ummm…can't wait to see you."

Nothing.

"Try humming," Rose suggests.

With his ear still pressed to her belly, like he expects to hear something in return, he starts humming.

It's something Rose has never heard before. The melody is sad but beautiful at the same time and the baby responds to it right away, kicking The Doctor right on the cheek.

"I did it!" He exclaims, face splitting into an ear to ear grin. He sits upright again, laying his open palm gently across Rose's stomach, feeling their baby flip and flutter and kick just under his fingertips.

"Told ya," Rose grins back, thrilled she was able to put that face splitting smile on The Doctor's face. "He or she likes humming, didn't I say?"

"Shhhhh," The Doctor hushes her and Rose tuts.

They both sit in silence until the wiggling little being inside Rose subsides and ceases it's kicking.

"That was brilliant," The Doctor tells her, with that grin still plastered on his face. "Absolutely brilliant."

"Glad to be of service," she grins back. "What was that you were humming? It was hauntingly beautiful."

"Just an old Gallifreyan nursery lullaby," he replies.

"Well I think he or she liked it."

"You know," Rose starts again after a short pause. "We should be able to find the gender out soon, you know….if you wanted to."

"Do you want to?" He asks.

"I would like to, yeah."

"Well, we can then, if that's what you want," He concedes.

"Why? don't you?" She asks.

The Doctor shrugs, "I'd kind of like it to be a surprise, but if it's what you want…."

"Well," Rose starts, biting the inside of her cheek. "We don't have to make a decision right now."

"Good," The Doctor announces. "Because we have bigger decisions to make right now."

"Do we?" She asks.

"We do!" The Doctor replies excitedly. "I was thinking….where are we going to put a baby in this flat, Rose? I think we need to get us a house. A proper house. With a mortgage and all."

"Really?" Rose asks, elated by this revelation.

"Really" The Doctor replies with that lop sided smile of his.

"With a garden?" Rose asks.

"Yes, with a garden."

"Well, you know what's going to have to be the first thing we do once we find our house, then?" Rose asks him with a sly smile playing on her lips.

"What's that?" The Doctor asks.

"We'll have to paint the front door TARDIS blue," she grins, tongue in teeth.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: THANK YOU Angeldolphin01 FOR THE REVIEW! I really appreciate it! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Next one is the birth of the baby! Stay tuned! :-)**

**Chapter 10**

"Jackie!" The Doctor shouts across the furniture strewn front lawn. "Control your daughter, will you?"

"What am I? Her baby sitter? She's a grown woman. You act like I don't have an actual little boy to keep an eye on!" Jackie shouts back.

"Just tell her to only lift light things! You know how stubborn she can be! She won't listen to me!" He shouts in return.

"You know I can hear you?" Rose asks standing to The Doctor's right carrying a box of books. "Honestly. I can mange, Doctor." Rose protests.

"I never said you couldn't manage." The Doctor counters, taking the box from her and putting it on the floor at his feet. "This isn't some chauvinistic, male dominance thing, Rose. You can barely see your toes anymore, please, just take it easy. Not because I don't think you can haul heavy things, but because I don't want you to. Let me and your dad handle it, okay? For me? Please."

Rose heaves a heavy over exaggerated sigh, "Fine, Doctor, I'll just start unpacking the boxes and fetching drinks? Okay?"

"Thank you," he smiles at her.

"You can't stop me from painting that front door blue though," she raises a threatening finger to him.

He puts his hands up in mock surrender, "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Okay then." She strides away satisfied.

The hot July day blazes on. Rose gets as much unpacking done as she can; box after box after box coming at her, faster than she can unpack them but she continues on. She tries hydrating everyone the best she can, at her pace of a fast waddle, but her feet and ankles swell up and she has to stop making trips. Doctor's orders. Quite literally.

Tony is down for the count after lunch and Rose strokes his hair as he naps next to her on the couch. Her feet propped up on a box and her huge belly precariously supporting her water glass. Precise balance, that's the trick.

Her mother plops down next to her on the couch, sloshing Rose's water, with her cheeks red and hair damp with sweat. "Hot as bleedin Hades out there," she huffs.

"Water?" Rose asks, handing her mother her glass of water, leaving a damp ring behind on her shirt.

"Thanks," Jackie accepts the glass and chugs the whole thing down.

"So any thoughts on what my grandbaby is going to be yet?" she asks her daughter. "Your dad and I didn't find out with you either, ya know?"

"No idea," Rose admits. "Should I know? Should I have some kind of mother's intuition or something?"

"Oh goodness me, no. If you have a strong indication one way or another, you'll definitely get the opposite. That's what your Gran always said."

"Yeah well Gran was a bit of a nutter," Rose responds under her breath.

"I just can't wait to find out so I can buy proper clothes," Jackie adds without deviation, oblivious to Rose's uttered statement. "I'm done with all this mint green, and yellow, and white stuff. I want to buy pinks or blues."

"Well, you never know, if it's a boy he may very well like to wear pink," Rose counters.

"Yes, sweetheart, but let's not put him in a dress until he decides that for himself, yeah?"

Rose laughs to herself, "yeah, mum."

"5 more weeks, yeah?" Jackie asks.

"Yup," She replies happily, popping the p. "5 more weeks."

"Well you still have a lot to do." Jackie gestures towards the stacked boxes. "Out of your bleedin minds; making a big move like this with that baby due in a few weeks."

Rose only rolls her eyes.

"Just take care of yourself, okay?" Her mum continues. "Rest often, get lots of sleep, lord knows you'll be needing it, and let me know if you need any more help, alright? I'll come round."

"You leaving?" Rose asks.

"Yeah soon, I gotta get Tony home so he can get his homework done and get ready for school tomorrow, start on dinner. You know all that domestic stuff. Seeing as none of the staff works Sunday's." Her mother smiles at her. "I can leave your dad here though, if ya want. There isn't much left to bring in though."

"Nah, The Doctor needs a break, we can finish it. Long as we get everything inside it's fine."

"Alright, love," Jackie kisses her daughter on the forehead. "See ya soon."

"Alright, bye mum, thank you for all you and dad's help."

"Anytime, sweetheart," she replies flinging her purse over her shoulder and rousing her sleeping son and disappearing with him out the front door.

Two minutes later The Doctor flops next to her on the couch, cheeks flushed pink, sweat soaking his shirt and hair, causing it to lay flat against his forehead.

"Hey, sweaty man," Rose teases him. "Why don't you go get a shower and I'll hunt down some towels for you?"

"Have I mentioned how much I dislike this whole 'human body' thing?" He asks breathlessly instead of answering.

"You have," She smiles at him, knowing his angsty "I hate this mortal form" side when he gets cranky.

"Soooo…." She starts after a stretch of silence has passed between them, The Doctor resting his eyes. "Shower?"

"I have a few more boxes to bring in," He replies, eyes remaining closed. "Can't leave them out there, and no sense in getting a shower and then getting all sweaty again."

"Well what's left?" Rose asks. "Maybe they're just light boxes that I can bring in?"

"Nah," The Doctor replies. "I'll get 'em" He heaves himself off the couch and disappears outside.

Rose dials their new local pizza shop on her mobile and orders them a pizza with a side of chicken wings and chips before she rummages through the minefield of boxes in the would be living room for towels.

The Doctor makes a few more trips, bringing the rest of the boxes in from the front lawn and putting them in the foyer. He locks the door behind him once all the boxes are in and strips his shirt off and uses it to mop the sweat from his forehead.

"Rose!" He calls, breathing heavy.

"Yeah?! I'm up stairs!" She calls back.

He climbs the stairs on his sore legs to find her in their box infested excuse for a bedroom rummaging around.

"Any luck on the towels?" He asks, draping his shirt across his shoulders and round his neck.

"Not yet, but I found the shampoo and soap and everything if you would like to hop in while I keep looking." She replies back.

"Sounds good," He tells her as he disappears into their ensuite.

"Where are those bloody towels?" Rose mutters to herself, looking through yet another box.

The doorbell chimes overhead and she mutters curses under her breath as she makes her way down stairs; one hand on the rail and one hand on her huge, inflated belly.

The doorbell chimes again and Rose tuts. "Bloody hell, I'm comin'"

She opens the door to find the delivery man on her door step.

"Hi," He greets her. "Rose Smith?"

"Yeah, that's me. Just give me a sec. I gotta find my purse." She shuts the door on him.

She waddles into the kitchen and retrieves the correct amount of money and a little extra for tip and returns to the door.

"Here ya are then," She hands him the money and he stuffs it into his pocket.

"Thank you, ma'am," he replies handing her the box of pizza stacked with two silver trays. "Have a nice night."

"Thanks," she shouts after him and re-locks the door.

She places everything in the kitchen and practically trips over the box marked 'linen' on her way back up stairs.

She opens the box and grabs an armful of towels before heading back up stairs.

"Towels are on the sink," Rose tells The Doctor in the steam filled bathroom. "Pizza, wings and chips are downstairs too when you're done."

"You're brilliant, you know that?" He tells her, poking his head out of the shower. "I'm starving."

"Well better move it then, mister. I am eating for two after all, so I may not save you any." She winks at him and he sticks his tongue out at her like a child.


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you so so so so much, Angeldolphin01 for your continued reviews! You're really motivating me to keep writing. I'm getting a little sidetracked from this, I wish I wasn't because my Ten/Rose feels have been off the charts lately, LOL! but crazy holiday's and all. Anyway...I hope you enjoy this chapter! Their baby has finally arrived!  
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**I tried to make this as least graphic as I can for a birth scene, but I promise the end is worth it :-)  
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**Disclaimer: I still do not own these characters. Sadly.  
**

**Chapter 11**

The glow of the monitors cast a blue hue over the otherwise dark room.

The steady rhythmic beeping pulses the sound of their unborn baby's heartbeat, echoing lightly in hospital room.

The Doctor snoozes in the single chair, after ignored protests from Rose to go home and get some sleep.

He's startled awake after the blinding overhead lights flick on and a nurse in white scrubs enters.

"Sorry to wake you, Mrs. Smith," she tells her, completely ignoring her waking The Doctor as well. "But we have to check your progress so we can get one of the Doctors on call lined up."

Rose squints into the light and just nods her head, too tired to respond.

The Doctor's eye lids flutter shut again but listens to the one sided conversation.

"Well, looks like you're progressing nicely," the nurse says after a minute or two of silence. "Baby is head down, heartbeat is nice and steady, no signs of distress, you're about 9 centimeters dilated, and complete effaced. We should be able to get things started in about an hour. Get some rest and I'll check on you once the hour is up and get you a Doctor lined up in the mean time."

After no response from Rose, The Doctor hears the lights click off again and he falls back asleep in two heartbeats.

Almost two hours later he feels like his hand is going to snap in half. Rose squeezes his hand so painfully he's sure he's going to regret not having any regeneration energy to grow a new one.

"And again," the doctor behind the white mask and blue scrubs encourages her on. "Come on, keep pushing….1….2….3….4…"

But The Doctor can only focus on his throbbing hand. He tries stroking her hair with his free hand and mutter words of encouragement through clenched teeth, but his hand…..Rose is going to break it.

"Almost there!" The blue scrubbed doctor encourages. "A few more good pushes, come on, Rose."

"Rose," The Doctor whispers, trying to ignore his hand. "Come on, Rose, you can do this! You can do anything. You're the bad wolf, remember? You can do it."

Rose curls forward, face red, pushing with everything she's got, before collapsing for breath and curling forward again into another 10 count.

"One more push, Rose," the blue clad doctor tells her. "One more good push and the head will be out."

Rose pushes again, and The Doctor's knees almost buckle out from under him from the strength in which she is squeezing his hand.

"Okay, okay, okay, wait." the doctor tells her. "The head's out, okay? I just need to clear the lungs and then you'll have your baby, okay?" After a second or two the doctor says, "Okay, Rose, this is it. Give me one big push and your baby will be here."

Rose gives out a tiny whimper. The Doctor can't tell if it's from pain, exhaustion, emotion or a combination, but it breaks his one single heart to hear it.

"Come on, Rose," The Doctor tries encouraging her again, despite the pain in his hand. "Our baby it almost here. You can do it. One more."

She curls forward again; pushing, pushing, pushing.

The Doctor's heart is beating so fast it almost feels like he's got two of them again. The moment reels in slow motion for him; His heart pounding horribly in his chest, the sharp stab of pain in his hand, the thumping of blood drumming in his ears, Rose exhausted. Too much to take in.

That's when he hears it; the loud wail rising above the din.

Rose releases her grip on his hand and the pain ebbs away, but The Doctor couldn't care less about his hand anymore.

Their wiggling, screaming newborn is placed on Rose's chest and she starts crying immediately, cradling their baby in her arms.

The Doctor's throat constricts him, squeezing air from his lungs, his eyes watering, struggling for breath, standing dumbly by her side, watching on like some out of body experience. Surreal, that's the only word The Doctor's brain can think up to describe the moment, surreal.

"It's a girl!" The blue clad doctor announces to them.

All the sudden The Doctor's body stops betraying him and he can breathe again. He gulps in oxygen greedily. Like a diver submerged underwater for too long.

And then he starts crying too.

A girl. He's got a little girl. A real little girl. A tirade of thoughts wash over him. He thinks fleetingly of the children he's lost. He wonders if this is technically his first biological child, given the new meta-crisis body. He thinks of all the ways he could mess up. He thinks of losing her too and vanquishes the thought right away.

Then Rose puts her hand on top of his and smiles a watery smile up at him and suddenly everything snaps back. All his doubts and worries disappear and he smiles back at her, struggling to rein his emotions in and get them under control.

They take the baby off Rose and go to weigh and clean her, while the doctor that delivered their perfect daughter into the world finishes up with Rose.

The Doctor stops crying and rubs his cheeks dry with the sleeves of his shirt.

Rose watches him as he meanders over to where their daughter flails, wailing her protests, and his eyebrows knit together in thought; like he's curios about something. He tilts his head, listening intently to her infant screams.

"Oh no, Rose!" The Doctor whispers urgently to her. "No, no, no, no, wait…yes! No. no, no…..weelllll….maybe….no. Rose, this is awful!"

"What? What is it, Doctor?" Rose asks semi-panicked by his reaction.

"I can't speak baby anymore, Rose!" The Doctor shouts, causing both the delivering doctor and the nurse to stop what they're doing to stare at him.

Rose's face falls and she rolls her eyes. "Stop it," she whispers. "Keep your voice down, people will think I've married a nutter. Besides, Doctor, you can't speak baby."

"Well, not anymore!" He protests.

"Calm down," she tells him.

He pulls on his left ear and idly wonders aloud "I wonder what other languages I've lost in the meta-crisis?"

He gasps aloud. "What if I can't speak horse anymore?!"

"Doctor," Rose tells him firmly. "Stop it."

"This is bloody rubbish," He continues unhindered. "I can't regenerate, I can't heal myself, I can't talk to babies anymore, and possibly animals…. Animals, Rose! Animals!"

"Doctor, you're being rude and not ginger again. I just had a baby for crying out loud and you're pouting about losing language abilities."

"You're right, Rose. I'm sorry. I'm a daft idiot. A bloody git. A wanker."

"Umm….sorry to interrupt," The blue clad doctor cuts in. "But everything looks good, I'll come and check on you tomorrow." He offers his congratulations to both new mother and father, shakes The Doctor's hand and disappears from the room.

The assisting nurse in canary yellow scrubs hands their newborn daughter back to Rose, all wrapped up, cocooned in a pink blanket, and pink hat. All pink cheeked and sleeping snuggly in the warmth of the blanket.

"Congratulations, she's beautiful," the nurse says with a cheerful smile before leaving the room too.

"Wanna hold her?" Rose asks The Doctor. "Even if you can't speak baby anymore," Rose adds with a sarcastic note in her voice.

"It's not funny, Rose. This is awful. How are we supposed to know what she wants?" He asks.

"Well, we'll just have to figure it out like every other parent that has ever existed."

He sighs in resignation.

"Okay, well I best go and call your mum then. She'll ring my neck if I hold off any longer." He kisses Rose on the temple and very gently kisses the top of his daughter's head before leaving the room as well.

When The Doctor returns, their tiny little pink bundle is laying in the clear bassinette and Rose is watching her intently. Like she expects her to disappear if she takes her eyes off her.

"Your mum will be here within' the hour," The Doctor tells her re-entering the room and clicking the door shut behind him.

"'Kay," Rose replies with a grin.

"So what are we going to name her?" He asks, walking over to the bassinette and gently strokes his sleeping daughter's soft cheek with a single finger.

"I was thinking Lily," he adds, not taking his eyes off her. "My two beautiful flowers, Rose and Lily." He grins, turning his attention to Rose.

"That's a lovely name, Doctor, but I was thinking something a little different," her grin grows wider, like she's keeping a secret that she's just bursting to tell him.

"What then?" He asks.

"Have you seen her properly since she's gotten cleaned up?" Rose asks instead.

"Whatdya mean? I see her properly right now."

"Take her hat off," Rose tells him, near turning into a fit of giggles.

"What?" The Doctor asks, not getting what's so funny. He very gently removes the pink hat from his daughters head and gasps aloud, "She's ginger!"

"Yup!" Rose bursts. "Guess you got more of Donna in the meta-crisis than you thought."

"But I…." he stammers at a loss for words.

Rose just grins at him. The Doctor. Speechless. Never in her life would she have thought.

"Sooooo…." Rose starts the conversation up again, pulling him out of his stupor. "I was thinking we should name her after Donna, and also your granddaughter, Susan. After all if it wasn't for you leaving with her in the first place you may have never traveled and I may have never met you. So I was thinking 'Susan Donna Smith', whatdya think?"

"I" He looks at her still dazed and confused. "I…I don't know what to say."

"I can see that," Rose smiles at him.

"Can I just make one…weeeelllll..two suggestions?" He asks.

"Of course," Rose replies.

"Instead of Donna, can we use her surname, 'Noble' instead? And I want to use your name too, Maybe Susan Rose Noble Smith? Or Susan Noble Rose? I don't know? What do you think?"

"Well how about instead of Rose we use my middle name, 'Marion', instead? Susan Noble Marion Smith. Has a nice ring to it? Yeah?"

The Doctor's grin splits his face nearly from ear to ear. "It's perfect! I love it!" He bursts with joy.

He turns his attention back to his sleeping daughter, with that face splitting smile of his and repeats her name to her. "Susan Noble Marion Smith, I feel like I've been waiting a millennia for you," he whispers.


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: So sorry for the delay everyone! Lots of sickies going around. Posting this last chapter and the epilogue :-) Hope you enjoyed my story. Thank you all for the reviews and favorites :-)  
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**Chapter 12**

"I think she's got Donna's lung capacity too!" The Doctor shouts above his wailing infant.

"WHAT?!" Rose shouts back, hands over her ears.

"I said!" The Doctor repeats, voice rising a little louder. "She's got Donna's lungs too!"

"What does she want?" Rose shouts back, picking their baby up out of her bassinette. "I just fed her, changed her nappy, burped her, what is it?" Rose tries rocking their baby in her arms soothingly.

"Let me try!" The Doctor tells her, lowering his voice an octave or two.

Rose hands their squirming, screaming, pink faced infant to The Doctor and he cradles her to his chest, letting her lay her tiny head on his shoulder. He gently sways from foot to foot with her and softly starts to hum the old Gallifreyan lullaby she has responded to since she was still in the womb.

Very slowly her screaming wails turn into soft whimpers and half hearted cries until they slowly subside completely into silence.

"Ahhh, you see?" The Doctor whispers to Rose as their daughter lies asleep on his shoulder. "Just tiered, that's all."

"Shhhhh," Rose whispers back. "Put her to bed so we can try to get some sleep."

Very gently The Doctor cradles her head in his hand and lay's her back in her bassinette. "Sweet dreams, Suzie," he whispers to her, taking Rose's hand in his and exiting the nursery, hand in hand.

****************************************

"But what If she falls?" The Doctor asks, clutching his nearly 1 year old daughter protectively in his arms.

"Then we pick her back up," Rose reassures him with a smile. "That's what parents are for; to pick their kids up when they fall."

"I don't like it," he argues.

Rose tuts, "she's going to have to learn to walk sooner or later."

"I vote later," The Doctor complains.

"She can at least try it, Doctor, she won't break, I promise. She's close, she can walk with assistance, I bet we can get her to walk, with a little practice."

"Fine," he relents.

He drops slowly to his knees, standing Suzie on her tip toes. "Okay, now, Suzie," The Doctor coddles her. "Go to Mum."

Rose stretches her arms out as far as she can get them. "Come on, Suzie," she encourages her daughter. "Come to mama, come on."

Their tiny daughter wraps her fist around The Doctor's index finger and totters on tip toes to the edge of his reach.

She squeals in delight at her mother as she lets go of her father's finger and takes two steps before falling on her backside.

"Awwww, good girl, Suzie!" Rose tells her daughter, picking her up off the floor. "Let's try it again, yeah?" she asks her daughter, who only smiles and babbles in response.

Rose stands her back up, balancing her out and lets her wrap her little hand around her finger.

"Go on, Suzie, go see daddy" Rose encourages her.

Their daughter sways unsupported for a few seconds trying to catch her balance before she takes two steps forward and stops to sway again.

"Come on, Suzie!" The Doctor urges her on. "Come to daddy, big girl."

She lets out a tiny high pitched squeal and runs headlong into her dad's waiting arms.

"Oh, good girl!" The Doctor praises proudly.

He scoops her up and Rose joins them.

"See?" Rose asks The Doctor. "Told ya she could do it.

"Ain't that right, my big girl?" Rose asks her daughter in a silly shrill voice, poking her in the belly, eliciting another high pitched squeal.

"Suzie, sit still." Rose try's restraining her daughter. "Let me just brush your hair."

The squirming toddler tries her best to escape.

"Suzie, for the love of…please." Rose sighs and the little girl scampers away in her pyjamas, hair in a mass of unruly ginger curls.

"Doctor!" Rose shouts from their daughter's room.

"Yeah?" He asks not a minute later, sticking his head in the room.

"Your daughter is being a menace; she won't let me brush her hair."

"Oh, she's my daughter now, huh?" He asks with a lopsided grin.

"Only when she's being a menace," Rose retaliates with one of her tongue in teeth smiles.

"SUSAN NOBLE MARION SMITH!" The Doctor shouts, causing the little girl to jump away from her toy bin. "You listen to your mother right now, young lady."

But she just gives him her wet little puppy dog eyes and he turns to mush.

"Awwwww…. I'm sorry, Suzie," He coddles her. "But you have to listen mummy, okay?"

She wraps her tiny arms around his lanky legs and nods her head into his thighs.

"I sowy, dada" She replies in her toddler language.

"It's okay, Suzie," The Doctor runs his hand over the top of her knotted hair. "Now, go see mum and let her brush your hair like a good girl."

Suzie let's go of her dad's legs and obediently sits down for her mum to comb through her tangled hair.

"Where did she get this curly hair from?" Rose asks to no one in particular. "Surely not from me."

"Well, she didn't get it from me either." The Doctor counters.

"It's good," Rose smiles, gently combing out the knots in her daughters hair. "It's something that is solely hers, you know?"

"Yeah," The Doctor replies. "Our curly little Suzie."

He pauses for a second. "Oi! What's the name of that movie the American's used to watch in the early '90's? Curly Sue? Wasn't it?"

"Yeah sounds familiar," Rose replies finishing up their daughters hair.

"Curly Sue," The Doctor smiles. "That's what I'm gonna start calling her. It's brilliant!"

"I love you, Suzie" Rose squeezes her daughter tightly, squishing her backpack into her back.

"I love you too, mum," Suzie replies back, trying to breathe proper.

"You be a good girl, okay? You listen to your teacher and mummy will be back to pick you up right after school." Rose instructs her daughter, letting her out of her embrace.

"You just be fantastic, okay?" She sniffs, trying not to cry.

"Of course she'll be fantastic," The Doctor cuts in, "she's our daughter after all."

He puts his arms out for her and she hugs her dad, squeezing his waist.

"Don't worry, Curly Sue, school will be great, you'll see." He tells her as she lets go of him. "Science and maths and books, oh gotta love books."

"Yeah, dad, see ya both later," she waves them off as she independently crosses the school grounds and disappears through the entrance.

Rose tries to wipe the tears from her eyes inconspicuously and swallow the lump in her throat and pretend that she's not on the verge of a 'my baby is growing up, what am I going to do' break down.

"Come on, it's just primary, she'll be brilliant," The Doctor reassures Rose, putting his arm around his wife's shoulders and pulling her close. "Now let's go get you some ice cream."

"Tony!" Rose shouts at her brother. "Are you teaching my 6 year old how to climb trees?"

"No, Rose, gosh. I'm almost a teenager now, I don't do that anymore." He replies.

"You better drop the attitude," Rose threatens. "I'm still your big sister and I'll still put you in a headlock and make you beg for mercy."

He rolls his eyes at her.

"If you didn't teach her, then how come her knees are all skinned up and I had to pull her out of the tree in the garden, twice?"

He just shrugs. "Maybe she just likes adventures?"


	14. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"She's just like you, you know?" Rose say's to The Doctor. "Can't stay out of trouble to save her life. And such a cheeky little thing."

The Doctor's old manic grin crosses his face, "I know," he beams proudly.

Rose just rolls her eyes, but The Doctor comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her middle, placing both palms on her belly before kissing the side of her neck.

"Maybe this one will be like you though," he whispers, his warm breath rippling across her skin, eliciting goosebumps to erupt on her forearms.

"Oh no," He gasps letting go of her and spinning her around before grasping her shoulders lightly. "What if this one is just like your mother?" He asks, eyes wide in feinted terror.

"Oh, stop it, you," Rose laughs, swatting his hands away. "You see, you're so cheeky."

"Besides," Rose adds. "Even if this one is like my mum, you're stuck with us all, Mister."

"Yeah," The Doctor smiles. "But stuck with you lot, that's not so bad."


End file.
